


Ghoulish

by Mercenary_bunnies



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Use, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Ghoulification, My First Fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 06:22:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5280089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercenary_bunnies/pseuds/Mercenary_bunnies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hancock and Lynn think about a long future together, but things don't always go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected News

Lynn noticed Hancock looking at her thoughtfully over a small campfire in the basement of the abandoned house they were camping in. It had been a wintery week in the Commonwealth, cold and rainy, and even the Raiders and Super Mutants were laying low. After a damp morning of scrounging through the ruins of outer Boston, the pair had decided to take the opportunity for some quiet time together out of the cold. Perhaps it was just the dreary weather, but Hancock had been unusually quiet for days. Privately, Lynn worried that she had overstepped with him somewhere along the line; they were still learning about each other. Hancock had assured her that she hadn’t, but his mood had remained subdued. But now he looked like he had something to say, and damn if Lynn could ever resist a mystery. 

“Hancock, your thoughts?” Lynn asked as she handed him some water and a mushy packet of Radroach meat.

Hancock took a moment to put his emotions in order before speaking. His glum mood had been caused by a conversation between Lynn and Kent over Christmas dinner. Hancock hadn’t been sure exactly why Christmas was such a big deal to Lynn and the prewar Ghouls she hung around with, but he was fine with any excuse to spend time in his town. At some point in the evening, after Lynn and Kent had been swapping a bottle of bourbon back and forth and talking about the old world, Kent said something that had sloshed over Hancock’s good mood like ice water. Kent had been gushing about Lynn’s appearances as the Silver Shroud and how the appearance of a hero in the Commonwealth gave the people hope. And then he’d said, “We’ll always be around to keep your legend alive, even after you’re gone.” For the first time, Hancock had realized that his ray of sunshine had an expiration date and he’d felt ill with the realization. Lynn, Kent and Daisy had continued the conversation, while Hancock excused himself to his office to anesthetize himself with some Med-X. He’d spent the rest of the week alternately thinking too much about it and trying not to think about it. 

“You know, we figure out how to turn you Ghoul, we could do this long term. Something to think about,” remarked Hancock. He kept his tone light, not ready for her to hear how much he feared losing her someday. That conversation was a little too heavy for his liking. He wasn’t really sure what kind of answer he was expecting, but he didn’t expect Lynn to frown slightly and stare into the flames. He watched the fire’s reflection flickering in her eyes for a moment before asking, “You okay?”

“Mmm? Oh, yeah. Just thinking.” She seemed to shake herself before smiling at him. “Nothing to worry about.” Hancock wasn’t sure what to make of that, but decided to let the matter go for the time being. He’d already worried her with his mood, why push his luck with that today? He tried to push away his fears and gave his lover a gentle smile. Lynn smiled back and came to sit beside him, leaning into him and wrapping her arms around him. The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly as they kept each other warm. 

A few days later, they had made their way back to Goodneighbor, one of their favorite places to visit in the entire Commonwealth. Hancock never got tired of seeing his streets, and Lynn was always happy to visit her friends over a drink over at the Third Rail. As soon as they entered town, Lynn kissed the corner of Hancock’s mouth and darted away to Daisy’s place. He looked after her retreating form for a moment, then shook his head and headed for his office. His form of government didn’t create much in the way of paperwork, but people always wanted to discuss various matters, so hours went by before he noticed. Finally, Lynn poked her head in the door, looking pleased about something. 

“Hey. Come with me, handsome” she said with a smile. Hancock happily complied, willing as always to follow his lady. Grabbing his hand, she led him to Daisy’s shop, walking quickly. Whatever was on her mind, she certainly seemed eager to share it. Hancock raised an eyebrow at Daisy as they entered, noting the Ghoul woman’s complete lack of surprise to see him there and wondering what the two women had cooked up. Just so long as they didn’t hide his hat from him again. 

“Alright. Daisy,” Lynn said as she turned and took both Hancock’s hands in hers and smiled shyly at him, “Tell him what you just told me.” He glanced at Daisy once before becoming absorbed in Lynn’s smile. It was just so rare to see a genuine smile on her face that he wanted to enjoy it, no matter what revelation was coming. 

“Your little darling came to me for a once over today, Hancock,” Daisy folded her arms over her chest as she watched the two of them, “She said she wanted an expert on Ghouls to have a look, or else she’d have used that medical robot you’ve got in Sanctuary. I’m no doctor, but your girl seems to have a little more Ghoul in her than just you.” Daisy smirked as Hancock’s eyes narrowed. “I can’t promise anything, you know, but I think maybe she’s been exposed to enough radiation that maybe she’s a little…Ghoulish,” Daisy finished.

Hancock’s mind whirled. Seeing his confusion, Lynn continued. “I don’t get as sick from radiation as I should anymore, and sometimes ferals refuse to attack me. I could understand adapting to the radiation, but the ferals?” she trailed off as Hancock squeezed her hands. God, as much as he been worrying about her growing old and dying on him, he also didn’t want her to experience some of the ugliness that went with being a Ghoul. What would she think when people started treating her like a monster? He was only dimly aware of Daisy speaking again until she cleared her throat.

“I said, I’m going to close up shop now, so why don’t you two lovebirds go back to the State House?” Daisy’s tone was as gentle as it ever got. Hancock didn’t trust his voice enough to answer, just nodded as Lynn led him back out and across the plaza to his office. Once there, she sat next to him on the couch and pulled some Jet out of a pocket. Without a word, she offered the inhaler to Hancock, who dosed himself and handed it back to her. He watched the line of her throat as she inhaled deeply and tipped her head backwards onto his arm. The last thing he remembered as the drug took hold was her arms sliding around him and her voice soft in his ear:

“Maybe now there’s hope for us long term.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the perk Ghoulish, and what that might mean for our heroes in the long run. 
> 
> In my first playthrough of the game, I had a glitch and couldn't recruit Hancock. (Incidentally, don't complete Silver Shroud before The Big Dig.) Naturally, left me pretty thirsty for that charismatic bastard. Dammit Bethesda! Now that I'm replaying the game, I made a beeline for Goodneighbor as soon as I thought I'd survive the trip. :)
> 
> Also, this is my first fic ever after reading them for years. Be gentle with me, please. Reposted on June 17, 2016 to smooth out some of the rough edges. I may be continuing this story with canon divergence/speculation, largely thanks to ComeHitherAshes. Blame them.


	2. Self-Loathing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No matter what comments he makes in the game, I can't imagine Hancock being chill about the SS turning ghoul. He's got a little too much self-loathing for that. As always, kudos and comments are welcome. Thanks for reading!

The light creeping through the window shades felt like lasers in Hancock’s eyes. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with a gnarled hand and looked around the room before remembering where he was. He was back in his office in the Old State House, alone. Lynn had been gone for a few days, working with Deacon and Preston to broker some sort of deal between the Railroad and the Minutemen. They all knew she’d be making her move on the Institute soon, and Lynn wanted the support of both groups. Hancock grimaced while he sifted through the junk on his table looking for a spare Mentat and failing miserably. Giving up the hunt, he wandered over to the window and looked towards Goodneighbor’s gate, hoping to see his Vault Dweller when he heard the door behind him open.

“Goddamn it Hancock,” growled Fahrenheit, “She leaves for a few days and you spend the entire time moping. It’s sad.”

Hancock turned to his second-in-command with a shrug. “You’re just mad that you didn’t get to her first.”

Fahrenheit scowled at him before throwing a box of Mentats at him. Hancock caught the box and opened it with one practiced movement, popping a tablet onto his tongue as retook his seat on the couch. Fahrenheit shut the door to his office and sat down across from him. “You shouldn’t worry about her so much. You said it yourself, she’s a born fighter,” she remarked. “And you weren’t this pathetic before you two became an item, either. So what’s on your mind?” Hancock shot a sharp glance at his old friend, but she just stared back impassively. He hadn’t been able to keep anything from her for a long time, but it still rankled him how easily she could read his moods sometimes. He took a deep breath.

“Lynn thinks she might be…beginning to turn into a Ghoul,” he said quietly.

Fahrenheit raised one scarred eyebrow. “And..? Is that why you’re being so insufferable?” Hancock squirmed a little at that. Had he really been that bad?

“People are going to try to hurt her, say shit to her. I can deal, but I don’t want that for her.”

She gave a derisive snort. “Right, because being called ‘Ghoul bait’ was so inoffensive. Besides, didn’t she break that one asshole’s nose?” Despite his funk, Hancock could still crack a smile at that memory. Lynn had cooperated with Paladin Danse for a day or two before visiting the Cambridge Police Station with Hancock in tow. At the time, she hadn’t realized that racial purity was one of the Brotherhood’s sacred Brahmin. Danse had made some icy remark about the company she was keeping, and she’d responded by punching him in the face. Things might have ended there, but then Rhys made a comment about her being Ghoul bait, and she’d dragged him outside and beaten him within an inch of his life. Hancock had to pull her off of the dumb asshole before she murdered him, despite the great temptation to let her get on with it. Similar things had happened in Diamond City and Bunker Hill, and now the people were very careful not to let her hear anything they had to say about it anymore. The irony, thought Hancock, was that they hadn’t even a couple for most of the time that shit was happening. And therein lay at least some of the problem.

“Yeah, she did. We were barely flirting at that point, but that wasn’t what pissed her off. That woman just can’t walk away from an injustice. What if assholes like that break her down?” he stared down at his hands as he said it, but managed to continue, “ I was afraid before of her gettin’ old and dying before me, but I don’t want to see a bunch of sanctimonious pricks break her down, either.”

Fahrenheit tilted her head and considered him through narrow eyes. “She looked normal to me when she dropped you off the other day. Do you even know for sure that this is happening?”

Hancock lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Not for sure. Daisy seems to think so. Some of the ferals aren’t goin’ for her anymore. You’d think they could tell.”

She nodded. “Probably. Then you have two choices here, boss,” she leaned forward to catch his eye, “You can either stay with her and hold on, or break it off with her now. Personally? I think you’d be an even bigger idiot than you usually are if you push her away because of that self-loathing shit you’ve got going on.” Hancock scowled, not even sure what part of that he wanted to respond to first. “Don’t give me that look. You’re the one that’s been sitting here feeling sorry for yourself. Those are your choices at this point. So sort it out and have a little faith in her. Incidentally, your girl’s been spotted on her way here.” Fahrenheit stood and strolled to the door, muttering under her breath. Hancock doubted whatever she was mumbling was in any way flattering as she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

With a sigh, Hancock let his head loll on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. Perhaps Fahrenheit was right. He’d have to talk to Lynn about how he felt, maybe do something special for her to make up for how he’d been acting. As he considered his options, he heard his office door open again and a distinctive pattern of footsteps making their way to him. Just as he was about to greet his favorite woman, her mouth covered his, pinning his head to the back of the couch with a hungry kiss. Lynn’s mouth tasted of orange Mentats and a ghost of wine, and he couldn’t help reaching up and cupping the back of her neck to keep her there for a few more seconds. Finally, she pulled away and he opened his eyes to the upside-down image of his Vaultie smiling at him, brown hair pulled into a long tail over one shoulder and her normally piercing green eyes gentle.

“Missed me, did you?”

“You could say that,” he replied with a grin before she snuck in another quick kiss.

“Fahrenheit tells me that I’m not allowed to leave you here alone anymore because you mope too much,” she remarked as she walked around the couch. Hancock gave a low whistle as he took in her outfit, a sequined silver dress that clung alluringly to her body. She grinned. “Like it? Tinker Tom introduced me to ballistic weave.”

“I think I owe Tom a gift basket.” He reached for her, but she stayed just out of reach.

“Hold on there, sweet. Deacon’s waiting for us down in the Rail. Wanted to have a celebratory drink before heading back to headquarters.” She leaned down to whisper in his ear, giving him a fantastic view of her cleavage in the process. “Then I want you to bring me back here and tear this dress off of me.” Hancock grinned devilishly, his dark eyes offering a promise that sent a thrill up Lynn’s spine.

What the hell. He could put off their heart to heart for a few hours.


	3. Beauty and the Beast

Hancock had always been a night person. His transformation into a Ghoul had only strengthened the inclination to dark times and places, but nights with Lynn were something special for him. The sex was great, sure, but the way she cuddled up to him in the dark was something else. There was never any censure or disgust from her, just loving touches and contentment. He’d been with a lot of people for a lot of reasons, but never someone who just loved him as he was with no expectation of payback in one form or another. It was no wonder, he thought, that he had fallen as hard as he had for her. His heart simply wasn’t strong enough to withstand that kind of kindness. Not in this blasted shithole of a world, anyway. 

They were lying on the most comfortable couch in Hancock’s office. More accurately, he was lying on the couch with Lynn stretched out naked on top of him, tracing the whorls and striations of his skin with her fingers and her head on his shoulder. Times like this, he could almost die happy, he thought as he brushed her hair with his fingers. Even if he was going to get a lot of knowing smirks from the Watch in the morning. Not that any of them really minded; the people of Goodneighbor had open minds about pretty much _everything._

“Is it going to hurt?” Lynn’s quiet question shook Hancock out of his musings. Glancing down , he could see her looking at this skin of his chest. Ah. _That._

“Why, you worried? I thought you seemed pretty happy about it.” 

Lynn’s brow knitted together in a frown. “I don’t know if ‘happy’ is the right word for it. It’s just…it’s just that after everything that’s happened to me, this doesn’t seem like the end of the world. At least I can stay with you for as long as you’ll have me.”

He tightened his arms around her and pressed his face into her hair, inhaling deeply. She smelled like fresh air and green plants from spending so much time tending settlements. Not for the first time, he was thankful he still had a sense of smell. “Don’t you worry about that, sunshine. I’m not goin’ anywhere.” He felt her smile against his skin and press a kiss to a particularly sensitive spot just above his collarbone. The silence stretched between them for a moment, before he asked, “Have you asked Daisy or Kent about how it went for them?”

“Yeah. Daisy gave me some sort of lotion with Med-X in it. Kent gave me welding goggles,” she frowned. “I understand the lotion, but I’m not sure about the goggles.”

Hancock smiled. “Heh. Everything looks different once you go Ghoul.”

She lifted her head to examine his face at that. “What do you mean?”

“When someone turns into a Ghoul, their eyes change. You already know they change color?” She nodded. “Yeah, well. The way you see changes, too. We can see things in ultraviolet. During the day, everything seems too bright and washed out and you can’t make out details very well. That’s why Kent gave you the goggles. Hell, it’s why I use a shotgun. But when it’s darker, everything is clear and beautiful. You can’t imagine the colors in the dark until you see it, and then you’ll wonder how you ever saw anything else.” 

Lynn looked amazed at this bit of intelligence. She’d never even heard a whisper of this gift, through all her travels in the Commonwealth. “That sounds pretty incredible.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “You know how you think my eyes are black now? They aren’t black if you can see in ultraviolet.”

She pressed her face up towards his, examining his eyes in the dim light from the town outside. Hancock knew what she was looking for, and that she wouldn’t be able to see it yet. “Not yet, sunshine. Not yet.” She searched his eyes for a few more moments before she relented and rested her head on his shoulder again. Why did he always have a thing for the stubborn ones? “So what’s the plan with the Institute? I’m assumin’ you’re going back there soon?”

She nodded slightly against him. “Yeah, probably in the next few days. Des and Sturges want one more intel trip before we attack. Plus, I want one last chance to talk some sense into Shaun.” Hancock tried not to grimace at her son’s name. That man had perpetuated too many atrocities to innocent people and made Lynn cry too many times. In Hancock’s opinion, the only thing left to offer him was a swift end, not a second chance. But he knew Lynn needed to come to that realization on her own, so he held his tongue. Lucky for him, she didn’t see the face he had tried not to make.

“I gotta say it, I hope you’ll be done with that place before they figure out you’re turning Ghoul. I don’t want them keeping you for experiments or some shit like that,” he slid one hand to the small of her back and began tracing patterns along her spine with his fingertips. “Besides, if anything goes funny with the change, I’d want you to be somewhere safer. It happens a little differently for everybody.” 

“I know,” she replied quietly, “I’d like to finish it, too. We still might have to destroy the Brotherhood, too.” Fucking hell. No wonder the prospect of becoming a Ghoul didn’t seem to make a big impression on her, he mused. She simply hadn’t had the time to think much about it. Still, all the more reason for him to stick with her. 

“Have you told the others what’s going on yet?” Between him and Lynn, ‘the others’ referred to her little fire-forged, dysfunctional family. The fact that she had found so many good people willing to fight for her cause never ceased to amaze him. Hancock thought that if the Old World had had more people like her, the bombs would never have dropped. On the other hand, they never could have met that way, so maybe that wasn’t a good thought to have. “I doubt they’re all going to be happy to see you turning Ghoul on them.” 

“I told Preston and Deacon. Preston didn’t say much, but I think he was…sad, maybe? Dissapointed?” Lynn paused, considering. Hancock wasn’t surprised. Like himself, Preston had fallen hard for the woman out of time. Hancock was fairly certain Lynn hadn’t realized it though, so he kept that little tidbit to himself. “Deacon made some joke about the ending of Beauty and the Beast being different than he remembered it, the brat.” She chuckled. Hancock frowned.

“I don’t think I know that one.” 

She stared up at him for a moment. “You seriously don’t know Beauty and the Beast? Old children’s tale?” He shook his head. “Okay then. Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince who was spoiled and selfish. And then one day, an old, crippled woman came to his castle and asked for help. The prince laughed at the woman and slammed the door in her face.”

“Bastard,” he muttered. He loved hearing her tell stories and anecdotes of the Old World. 

“Hush, you,” she slid one hand up to play with the ruin of his ear, “The old woman wasn’t an old woman at all, but a fairy in disguise, and she cursed the prince to live forever alone as a beast until he could love someone and receive their love in return.” Hancock sighed as she continued, “And so he did, until one day a wealthy merchant stumbled into his home during a snowstorm.”

“Snowstorm?”

“Do those happen anymore? Frozen water falling from the sky, very cold, that kind of thing?”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

She smiled wistfully. “No more white Christmases, huh? Anyway, the merchant survived the storm by staying at the Beast’s castle until the storm was over, and before he left he saw a rosebush in bloom. His youngest daughter, Beauty, loved roses, so he decided to take a flower with him for her. When he plucked the flower, the Beast came out of hiding and demanded the merchant’s life in exchange for the rose.”

“That seems a little excessive.”

“It does, but that’s how things usually went in the really old fairy tales. The merchant bargained for his life, and got the Beast to agree to let the rose go if the merchant would send his daughter Beauty to live with the Beast.”

“And people used to tell these stories to their kids?” Hancock sounded dubious. Lynn quieted him with another kiss to his collarbone, letting her mouth linger for a moment before continuing.

“Hey, times were very different back then. So the merchant went home and Beauty went to the Beast’s castle. As it turned out, the Beast was gentle and kind with her. Every night, he would ask her to marry him, and every night she would turn him down. And every night, she dreamed of a handsome prince who kept asking her why she refused, but she didn’t understand that the prince was the Beast. Eventually she got homesick and asked the Beast to allow her to go home. The Beast agreed to let her visit, on the condition that she return in a week, and then sent her off with a mirror that would let her see the Beast wherever she was, and a ring that would magically bring her back to the Beast when she needed to come back.” She paused to kiss his base of his throat, and Hancock found his attention beginning to wander from the story. He began to slide one hand up her side as she continued. “Beauty’s sisters conspired to keep her there longer than a week, and she agreed to stay with her family. Until she looked into the mirror and saw the Beast dying, refusing to eat and drink without her. So she used the ring to return to the Beast, and when she cried over him, the fairy’s curse was broken.” 

“And how did it end?” Hancock’s hand was on her breast, and he winked as her breath caught. She trailed a line of kisses up his throat to his jawline before speaking again. 

“With the curse broken, the Beast turned back into a prince. So they got married and lived happily ever after.” She was beginning to grind her hips against him now. He grinned deviously.

“I do love a happy ending.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. There's nothing canonical about Ghouls being able to see in the ultraviolet spectrum the way some animals can. But I like the idea, so there. Also, I really liked the idea of the SS having to explain Beauty and the Beast to a romanced Hancock. Sorry for kinda wussing out on the porny bits, but I've not written smut yet and I didn't want it to come out hilarious instead of sexy. You know what I mean.


	4. Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lynn goes missing, and Deacon hatches the craziest plan that ever crazied.

“You’re late, “Hancock snapped at Deacon as the spy entered the room. He hated the way he sounded, on edge and hard assed, but it had been two and a half weeks since Lynn had vanished into the Institute on what was supposed to be a straightforward in-and-out visit. Frustration and fear had been taking a toll on him, as they had on everyone in the room. Hancock, Preston, Piper, Nick, Cait, MacCready, Codsworth, Curie and now Deacon had gathered in a room at the Castle. Even Dogmeat was there under the table, watching the door and whining softly from time to time. The mood had been uncomfortable at best as they’d waited for Deacon to show up. Now there was a sense of alertness, as all eyes found the spy and waited for news. Deacon, for his part, didn’t even seem interested in his usual bullshit, which suggested to Hancock that the coming news wasn’t going to be good.

“She’s been taken,” Deacon stood in front of the assembly, confirming what they all suspected. “Late last night, one of our contacts on the inside snuck a synth out through the relay, with instructions to head straight to Old Man Stockton over in Beacon Hill. The synth, H3-67, reported that a coup has taken place in the Institute.” Deacon paused as a murmer ran through the group. “Lynn’s son, Shaun, had died of natural causes before she relayed in. Shaun had previously named her as the next director of the Institute, but with him dead and her absent, a man named Justin Ayo took control of the whole place.” 

“Lynn’s mentioned him to me before,” Hancock interrupted. “She said he was a petty little bully.” 

Deacon nodded as everyone’s attention turned back to him. “H3 seemed to think so, too. He took over the place and waited for her to turn up again. H3 said Ayo originally intended to kill her, but…” Deacon trailed off and looked at Hancock. “They’d been spying on her through her Pip-Boy. They knew she was about to turn into a Ghoul. They grabbed her for study.”

The room erupted. Everyone wanted to run to her rescue, but Lynn’s ability to enter and exit the Institute at will hadn’t made it easier for anyone else to get in. Curie was talking about finding a cure for ghoulification. Cait was swearing volubly; it was the first time she’d heard about Lynn’s condition. Codsworth was trying to comfort Cait while MacCready was offering to go digging under the old C.I.T. ruins. Piper was saying something about interrogating Mayor McDonough about how to get inside. Preston was trying to ask Deacon about the Railroad’s safety and offering help from the Minutemen. Only Hancock and Nick were quiet; Nick frowning while staring off into the distance while Hancock glowered. He’d never really minded Lynn’s Pip-Boy before; she’d let him borrow it occasionally for a game of Red Menace, where they’d been competing for the high score. It had never occurred to him that someone had been listening to her through it. He wasn’t usually given to smashing stuff up, but he would have loved to have that little computer and a hammer right then. Deacon let the gang blow off steam for a moment, then raised his hands for silence. 

“I know, I know. Of course we’re not going to leave her there. As of now, most of the Railroad has gone into hiding. It’s just me and you guys now, and I’ve got a plan,” everyone leaned forward, eyes intent. “Our friends on the inside can’t be contacted from the outside; they’ve done what they could by sending word. The Railroad never had a way in; our original plan was to have Lynn hijack the relay from the inside, so that’s out. Same goes for the Minutemen. So I’ve got a crazy plan.” Deacon grinned, and Hancock briefly considered stabbing him for dragging out the suspense. “The Brotherhood has a gigantic pre-War robot named Liberty Prime. My intel says they’ve been restoring it to blast their way underground to the Institute. I say we slip into the airport, steal it, and go get our Vaultie out of there.” Looks were exchanged around the table. Nobody said anything. 

Hancock was quietly impressed; Deacon hadn’t lied when he said the plan was crazy. But would they be able to get into the Institute in time? His words to Lynn the night before she’d left haunted him. He’d just wanted her to come back to him safely before she began to change. He never should have let her go, even though he knew she would have hated him trying to keep her safe. His hand drifted unconsciously to the wedding band he wore on a cord around his neck. They’d never had a formal wedding ceremony, just one crazy night with all their friends in the V.I.P. room at the Third Rail. According to Lynn, weddings used to be full of extravagance and symbolism and pretty words. She’d smiled at that, like it were a private joke that he didn’t get, before sliding the ring on his finger and telling him the only words she’d thought worth saying: 

_“I love you, and I will always come back to you, no matter how far apart we are.”_

He’d moved the ring to his neck after it caught on the trigger of his shotgun one too many times, but he’d never taken it off after that. Up until now, she’d been able to keep her word to him; anytime she strayed without him through the Commonwealth, she always came back. He wrapped the cord around his hand and jerked, pulling it and the ring loose before sliding the ring back onto his left hand where she’d put it herself all those months ago. The act seemed to unlock something in his chest, letting him take a deep breath. If his sunshine couldn’t come back to him, he would go to her. Hancock looked up to meet Deacon’s gaze. 

“Sounds good. How are we doing this?”

Deacon nodded at Hancock. “According to my sources, the Brotherhood needs one more piece to bring Prime back online. One beryllium agitator, located in the Mass Fusion building. Once we’ve got that, we sneak into the airport and plug it in, then run like hell to C.I.T. and wait for the robot to show up. I’m thinking we split into groups.” Once again, there was that sense that everyone in the room was hanging off Deacon’s every word.

“Hancock and Nick, you guys get the agitator. It’s probably in the reactor level of the building, and the rads won’t bother you two.” Nick and Hancock nodded at each other. “Piper, Cait, I’d like you two to create distractions at the airport. Nothing that’ll get you killed, just keep them from paying too much attention to Prime.” The women exchanged a look and shrugged. “Mac, you’re sniper support; if any of the Brotherhood start shooting, take them out.” Cait reached out and playfully punched MacCready in the arm. “Codsworth, Curie, you two are with me. General Atomics played a part in building Prime; I’m hoping you two can help me figure out how to get him going quickly.” Curie nodded seriously, while Codsworth made a gesture that might have been a salute. “And Preston—“

“I want to secure the route to C.I.T. I’ll bring the Minutemen and provide artillery support; Lynn means a lot to us,” Preston cut Deacon off. If Deacon was surprised, he hid it well. 

“Perfect. Everyone, get your best armor and weapons together. Nick, Hancock, you two get going. Preston, call up your people. The rest of you, meet back here at midnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whee! I've left a couple of companions out here; I'm not super fond of Strong (Fawkes was way better), and this story assumes that the SS has no affinity with the BoS, so no Danse. It wouldn't really make sense to have X6 here, either. I'm personally indifferent to Ada. And I personally can't imagine Old Longfellow getting embroiled in mainland affairs. So here we are. 
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are appreciated, and stay tuned for more!


	5. Interlude 1

Lynn blinked sluggishly as she drifted to consciousness. Some small voice in her head was screaming, telling her to get up, run, but the voice was buried under layers of agony and her limbs refused to move. Her mind felt adrift on a black, bottomless sea of pain. She would have liked to vomit, if her muscles could have cooperated. She tried to concentrate on breathing slowly through her nose as her stomach clenched uselessly. It seemed like every nerve ending in her body was burning. Before now, she would have sworn it was impossible to feel so much pain, that there was an upper limit to the sensations a human nervous system could produce. 

She would have liked to not know otherwise.

A face appeared above her. She supposed she must be laying down, then. Dimly, Lynn recognized the face above her as the synth who worked with Dr. Binet. Z1-14? She thought that was right. He looked worried, leaning in close and fiddling with something on her arm. There was the distant itch of a needle in the crook of her elbow, not even worth focusing on. Lynn wondered what kind of drugs they were giving her, and wondered that she didn’t feel more afraid over the thought. Were they killing her? She couldn’t feel any fear over the thought, only regret for the people she’d be leaving behind. _Oh, Hancock…_

“—listening?” Lynn realized Z1 had murmured something to her. She blinked and saw his eyes dart around the room before she remembered where she was. The Institute. She waited, hoping he’d deem it safe to speak again.  
“Do you know where you are?” She blinked at him again, not wanting to give him away to anyone who might be listening and not trusting her voice in any case. “Good. They are keeping you drugged to keep you from fighting, but not enough for the pain. You are very ill.” Lynn bit back a bit of sarcasm at that, and felt a tiny bit more like herself. Perhaps this was temporary and she’d be okay soon. She clung to the thought as another wave of nausea passed through her. 

“They say you are turning into a Ghoul. They wish to study you, so they will not try to ease your pain.” It was hard to tell with Z-1’s voice so quiet, but she thought he sounded regretful. She regretted it, too. “We will try to get word out to your people, and look after you as best we can.” He stopped talking and straightened up at the sound of a door opening. She saw him drop his eyes quickly and step out of her field of view and guessed whose footsteps she was hearing just before Dr. Ayo’s face appeared. 

“Good morning, _Director_ ,” he smirked. Lynn met his eyes, expressionless. “So kind of you to join us. It’s not often we get to study the ghoulification process _in progresu_.” Latin. Pretentious bastard. She made a mental note to shoot him the first chance she got as he chuckled. “You never should have come back here. Your son only let you out as a loose end; he expected the Wasteland to kill you. Why didn’t you cooperate?” 

_Remember. Deep breaths through the nose. Don’t lose control._

“I suppose it doesn’t matter now. You’re finally going to serve mankind by giving us a chance to study the process as you turn into a shuffler,” he leaned down, putting his face close to hers. She could smell soap and a tang of bitter sweat. “And when that’s over, we’re going to see just how durable Ghouls are.” He straightened, looked over her body, and smiled again. “I bet that ghoul you’ve been fucking would have loved to see you like this.” Lynn prayed to whatever god might be listening that she would get to wipe that smile off his face before he died as he walked away. She heard the door hiss again and hoped he’d left as a fresh wave of pain buffeted her. 

She let her eyes slide closed and tried to keep her breathing even against the urge to sob. Coming back to the Institute, she hadn’t expected to reconcile her differences with Shaun. In her heart, she knew that ship had sailed long since. But she had still hoped against hope, and his death made her heart ache. It would have been good to have said goodbye, if nothing else. Instead, she’d teleported back to find the power to the Relay cut off behind her and surrounded by Coursers. If she’d been in the Commonwealth, she would have pulled the shotgun she used for emergencies and fought, but she had stowed most of her gear before relaying. Her hands had itched for a gun as Justin Ayo had walked up to her with that goddamned smile on his face to tell her that her son was dead and he was the new director. She’d fought to hold her composure, refused to cry in front of something like Ayo, when she’d felt a syringe jammed into her hip. Shaun’s face had followed her into the darkness. 

Lynn became aware that she was losing her grip on consciousness and tried to relax as much as possible. Losing touch with her body seemed like a small kindness, under the circumstances. As she drifted, she remembered what Z1 had said about sending word to her friends. Her last thought was of Hancock: 

_Please God, don’t let him get killed trying to save me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like we needed some checking in with the SS, before shit goes down. :D


	6. Mass Fusion

“I’d take it as a favor if you didn’t get yourself killed.” Hancock huffed and shot a turret as Nick moved up to share his cover behind an old desk. “Because I do not want to explain to our girl that I let you get killed on my watch. She might get sarcastic.” The old synth sounded as ragged as Hancock felt, but the ghoul managed a chuckle.

“She might even raise an eyebrow at you.” Nick smiled as the pair listened carefully for a moment, but the only sounds were coming from the floors above them, where the fighting was still going strong. They’d made it to Mass Fusion with no problems and had begun searching for a way to the reactor sublevel when they’d heard the Brotherhood arriving. The arrival of the armored bigots might have been problematic, had Institute synths not started relaying in behind them. Recognizing an opportunity when they saw it, Hancock and Nick had ducked out of sight and continued on their way, letting the two factions occupy each other. They’d only had to quietly pick off the occasional wounded survivor or turret for the most part, which suited both of them just fine. With a little luck, Hancock hoped they could grab the agitator and get out before anyone realized it was missing.

“So, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Nick remarked as he reloaded his pistol. Hancock waited, eyeing the synth’s pipe pistol and thinking how much the gun had bothered Lynn. He knew Lynn had tried to give Nick better weapons, but the synth had refused, calling it a good luck charm. “How did you and Lynn wind up together in the first place? I always assumed there was a story in there somewhere.” 

Hancock was quiet for a moment as they moved down the corridor. “There’s really not that much to tell. I had it bad for her not long after we started runnin’ together. Smart, could handle herself in a fight…We got along so well, dishing out hurtin’ and helpin’ all over the Commonwealth. And I admired the way she just rolled with everything.” The pair stopped before an elevator while Nick slid a keycard they’d found in an office. There was a quiet beep as the door slid open and they stepped inside and began to descend. Hancock leaned against the elevator wall and reloaded his shotgun. “If I had walked out of that Vault into the Commonwealth the way she did, I’d have died in the dirt somewhere. I admired the way she just kept going, and took it all in stride. But I couldn’t imagine someone like her takin’ up with someone like me, you know?” Nick nodded as the elevator slowed. “I mean, we flirted, but…”

“But you flirt with everyone. Or almost everyone,“ Nick finished for him as they both crouched to either side of the elevator door. They scanned the room before them as the door slid open. There was silence for a moment as both of them listened for trouble, but there was only a faint heavy hum, suggesting they were close to their goal.

Hancock moved in a crouch to the windows on the far side of the room and looked down into the reactor room. Satisfied for the moment, he straightened. “Sure. Took me awhile to realize that she doesn’t really flirt with everyone the same way I do,” Hancock smiled as they moved to a side door, “You ever been out to The Slog?” 

“No, but I’ve heard of it. Tarberry farm run by Ghouls, right?”

“Yeah. Lynn’s real friendly with them. Anyway, this one ghoul named Holly kept flirting with her. Every time we went there, Holly would ask her if she’d ever consider dating a ghoul, and Lynn kept answering that she might try it someday.” Hancock quieted as they entered an impressive looking room overlooking the reactor. Hancock took up a station by a bank of equipment as Nick drifted away to search the room for traps and automated defenses. Finding a likely looking terminal, Nick worked on breaking the encryption until Hancock rejoined him. 

“Right. So Holly made a pass at her, and she wound up with you?” Nick chuckled as Hancock leaned against a counter and made a rude gesture at him. 

“I guess so. One day she told Holly that she was already interested in a ghoul, but she didn’t think he thought of her that way. She looked at me when she said it, and that’s when it hit me,” Hancock shook his head. “I guess I’d been hiding behind careless flirting too much for her to realize how I really felt. We had a good long talk as soon as we got away from the Slog, and that was that.” Nick smiled as he stepped away from the terminal and they moved to the airlock into the reactor together. 

“You must have been floored when she said that.”

Hancock nodded as the mist from the decontamination arches cleared and the doors in front of them slid open. “Damn right I was. Still am, sometimes. How the hell did I get that lucky? But you know Lynn…” he trailed off as they climbed the steps to the reactor core. 

“Mm-hmm,” Nick hummed in response. “She’s as strong-minded as they come. She’d never let you walk away if you told her you thought you weren’t good enough for her. She used to get mad at me for saying I was less than human. I thought she was going to slap me once.” He shook his head at the memory as Hancock laughed. Nick had never been very close with Hancock, but he had to admit it was good to hear the ghoul laugh again. The normally suave mayor had been short tempered and withdrawn since realizing that Lynn had gone missing. If they really were going to invade the Institute with Deacon’s frankly insane plan, he’d prefer Hancock to be at his best.

“Yeah, I can imagine. That’s just the kind of thing that would really piss her off.” Hancock waited as Nick carefully removed the beryllium agitator and tucked it into an inside pocket of his coat. “Let’s hope the tin cans and the bolt heads have taken care of each other.” They left the reactor room, falling back into a crouch as the decontamination cycle ended and released them back into the outer room, just before they heard the alarm of a Sentry Bot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been awhile, folks. I've been busy, and this bit just didn't want to be written. Hopefully the next part will come easier. :D As always, comments and kudos are gratefully accepted. <3


	7. Interlude 2

Lynn flinched from the light as she opened her eyes at the bank of lights positioned above her stretcher. It had never occurred to her that light could make her head pound so badly. No wonder Hancock preferred nighttime. She promised herself that if she escaped, she’d never drag him outside at the crack of dawn ever again. 

_If she escaped._

She grimaced. The worst of the sickness seemed to have passed, and she could be grateful that she didn’t remember all that much of it. There were only disjointed memories of sobbing and retching and pain that seemed to blossom from everywhere at once, but now she mostly felt exhausted and weak. And itchy. Her skin had broken into huge dry scales with deep cracks, and it took an effort of will not to dig at herself. Lynn clenched her hands into raw fists as she tried to remember how long she had been stuck in the Institute. It was hard to be sure. Whatever drug they pumped through the needle in her arm kept her thinking fuzzy and indistinct, on top of the radiation sickness itself. It was like trying to think through a bad bout of ‘flu or a sinus infection, but worse. 

Lynn thought she’d been delirious at least part of the time she’d been laying on this godforsaken cot. There were vague memories of talking to people who couldn’t have been there. She thought she’d seen Nate at one point, telling her everything would be okay. Another time she’d seen Shaun, standing across the room and staring at her silently, judging. Hancock had made an appearance as well, asking when she was coming home. Lynn remembered trying to tell him that she couldn’t come back yet, that she was too sick to get up. Then there were memories of tests run by scientists in Institute garb, half faceless beneath their surgical masks. Surely all of that couldn’t have happened too quickly. Maybe two weeks? Three? She wished she had someone to ask, but there weren’t many options down here. She’d seen Z-1 in her room a few hours ago, when he brought a tray of some sort of food, but he’d flicked a warning glance at the large mirror set into one of the walls before she could speak to him. Even then, she’d felt a glimmer of hope just from seeing a familiar face.

Almost on cue, the door slid open and Z-1 stepped in with a bundle of cloth in his arms. Lynn eyed him as he walked to her bedside, waiting.

“Ma’am, I have been instructed to bring you a change of clothes and change your bedding,” he intoned. It was always hard to be sure with Z-1, but Lynn thought she heard a note of warning in his voice as he continued, “Also, the Director wishes you to have a shower before the next round of tests,” the door slid open again and two Coursers stepped into the room, “Please cooperate.” Lynn noted that one of the Coursers was her old companion X6-88 before shifting her gaze back to Z-1 and nodding. Z-1 reached over her and pulled an intravenous needle out of her arm, then stepped back as she swung her legs over the edge of the stretcher and tested her legs. Once she was sure her legs would hold her weight, she looked up and Z-1 set the bundle of cloth he’d been holding into her arms with a meaningful look. Lynn kept her gaze down, locked on the fabric she held as she stepped towards the Coursers. 

_Try to look meek, try to look meek…._

The Coursers took up positions on either side of her, herding her down a hallway to a bathroom. Most of the room was open, leaving no opportunity for concealment, and her hopes fell. She’d half hoped that the bundle of cloth Z-1 had handed her would contain a weapon, or plans for her escape. But no. He wouldn’t have been stupid enough to conceal anything that would be noticed in a room like this. With an inward sigh, she walked to a low bench that sat against one wall and placed her bundle on it. As she grasped the hem of her shirt, she glanced towards the door, where the Coursers had taken station. She considered asking them to turn away and give her some privacy, but decided against it. Between her time in the service before the War and half-remembered indignities she’d suffered at the hands of the Institute, being watched in the bathroom by a pair of Coursers wasn’t so bad. 

_Besides, fuck them if they see something that makes them uncomfortable._

Despite everything, Lynn’s spirits rose as she scrubbed herself. Just having a hot shower and a clean change of clothes was something. The lack of sedation was making itself known as well, leaving her head clearer. She still had no idea how long she’d been held prisoner, but that was more of a curiosity than anything else. First things first, she needed to do something about the sedatives. Perhaps she could destroy the intravenous needle somehow? She washed her hair slowly, considering her options while she still had a working mind. She pretended not to see the large pieces of skin that sluiced down the drain, the same way she pretended that the Coursers weren’t watching her. It was easier than she expected. Once it was over, she unfolded the clothes Z-1 had given her. Nothing special, just a pair of light pants and a shirt, until a marking on the fabric caught her eye. She turned the pants over in her hands and hid a smile. Z-1 had left her a message, of a sort. Concealed on the inside of the waistband was one word:

_Patience._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the Liberty Prime heist, I promise. :D


	8. Take It Back

Deacon hated a lot of things about the Brotherhood of Steel. He hated their rhetoric and the demagoguery of their Elders. He hated the way they bullied people just trying to eke out a living in a hard world. He hated the way they’d flown into the Commonwealth with their gunships while claiming they came in peace. But right now, there was one thing he hated most about the Brotherhood, and it was the way his stolen Scribe uniform fit him. Either he’d been unlucky when he’d pilfered it, or the Brotherhood was trying to castrate its own people. 

Neither option was especially comforting. 

Wardrobe issues aside, the plan appeared to be shaping up well. Nick and Hancock had made it back from the Mass Fusion building more or less intact, barring some new holes in their respective coats, and a lovely bit of rain had blown in from the coast, keeping the Brotherhood patrols from paying too much attention to their work. He’d even been impressed with what Cait and Piper had come up with to distract the remaining guards. They’d decided to take advantage of the inclement weather and stage a catfight just outside one of the entrances to the grounds. Piper had even been persuaded to wear something skimpy for the occasion by Cait, who insisted that something called a ‘mudfight’ worked better with less clothing. It was the kind of crazy plan that Deacon favored; winging it and taking refuge in audacity. He suspected Cait had come up with the idea solely to get her hands on Piper, but if Piper wasn’t saying anything about it then neither would he. He hoped MacCready had found a decent spot to hunker down. A sniper probably wouldn’t be much use in this weather, but Deacon would rather have him out there than not. He’d taken Dogmeat with him to both to watch his back and keep the dog out of danger, which suited Deacon nicely. The plan was risky enough without worrying about what would happen if there was so much as a hair harmed on the mutt’s head. 

Now he just had to wander into one of the best guarded places in the Commonwealth with two of the least stealthy individuals he’d ever met on a mission to save one of the best friends he’d ever had. And if the plan succeeded, the Railroad’s primary objective would be complete and Lynn would never have to run missions with him again. The irony was not lost on Deacon. Hopefully she’d still be willing to visit the library with him; they’d had a hell of a time rooting all the Super Mutants out of there and he still wanted to complete his set of _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire._

He scanned the airport once more with the old recon scope he carried, waiting…. _there._ Some of the Brotherhood were drifting towards the opposite end of the base, where a distant movement suggested Piper and Cait were putting on their show. He dropped the scope back in his pocket and glanced behind him at Codsworth and Curie. He’d tried to make them not stand out so badly, he really had. Curie was decked out in her own Scribe uniform, and he’d given Codsworth a quick olive green paint job with the Brotherhood’s emblem in white on the body and removed the robot’s bowler hat. But no disguise could make up for someone who didn’t understand how to play their part. He’d managed to convince both of them to keep quiet unless absolutely necessary, with just a little coaching on Brotherhood ranks and how they spoke, but Deacon wasn’t confident. Hopefully the rain and distraction would keep anyone from looking at the trio too carefully. 

“Let’s get this show on the road.” 

Curie nodded with her eyes wide, and she and Codsworth fell into step behind Deacon, who was trying to keep his ill-fitting uniform from turning him into the world’s first hunchgroin. Together they walked up to the checkpoint, where a pair of young soldiers were standing guard while trying to keep their heads turned towards the mudfight outside the opposite gate. Deacon slowed, readying his story about doing some recon at Nordhagen Beach, when one of the soldiers waved them onward into the base. Deacon tried to look distracted as he passed between the guards, just another soldier looking forward to hitting his bunk as soon as his debriefing was finished. He checked that he still had his companions with him and veered off towards the main concourse. 

Luck was still on Deacon’s side; the concourse was all but abandoned, except for a dull-eyed squire pushing a broom around. It was quiet, except for the cheers and whistles coming from the crowd gathered outside the base and the faint drumming of rain on the concourse’s roof. He stopped by a crate of…somethings…and pretended to be examining bits of metal for a moment while Curie and Codsworth began to make their way up the scaffolding to Liberty Prime’s head. Since the two of them would likely be more competent at installing the Beryllium Agitator and getting the robot running than he would be, he’d stay on the ground, keeping an eye out for anyone that looked like they’d be wandering up the scaffolding. His intel suggested that the person most likely to cause trouble, a Proctor Ingram, would probably be working in the Prydwen’s power armor bay tonight. All he had to do was keep an eye out for trouble. So far, he liked this plan better than the Railroad’s plan of stealing a vertibird to board the Prydwen; he wasn’t especially fond of heights and the idea of giving Tinker Tom a vertibird made him queasy. 

The sound of Curie’s footsteps on the metal scaffold had stopped. Deacon picked up a clipboard and wandered out of the building, still projecting his image of a distracted Scribe while he looked up. It looked like Curie and Codsworth were kneeling behind Prime’s head, fiddling with something. He heard the murmur of their voices on the breeze while they worked. The soldiers who’d waved them through were still craning their necks to catch a glimpse of Cait and Piper, and the few members of the Brotherhood who were still wandering around were keeping their heads down as they headed off on their own jobs. Deacon nodded to himself as he looked back down at his stolen clipboard. Maybe, he thought, they’d get away with this and the only hard part would be coming up with a good story to tell Lynn and Desdemona later. 

A few more minutes passed while Deacon flicked through papers and waited. It sounded like Piper and Cait were running out of steam; the cheers were dying down and people were starting to drift away from the group. He didn’t dare look up at Codsworth and Curie. All he could do was hope they’d stay tucked away up there and not attract any extra attention. He pulled a pencil out of his pocket and pretended to be taking notes as he walked slowly around Liberty Prime’s feet, body hunched forward to protect his clipboard from the gentle rain.

“Excuse me, sir,” an older soldier in power armor had apparently noticed Deacon. “This project is the purview of Proctor Ingram. Nobody is supposed to be working on it tonight.” Deacon’s mind raced. This, _this_ , was what separated him from the rest of the Railroad’s operatives. Now what the hell was he supposed to say to this heavily armed clown? “May I see your identification, sir?”

Deacon turned toward the man, his distracted Scribe persona forgotten. Instead, he adopted a slight cringe, gripping the clipboard with white knuckles as he schooled his face to a friendly earnestness. Thank god he’d worn the nerdiest pair of glasses he owned tonight. What he needed now was the attitude of a passionate genius with no social skills and a desire to communicate. He patted his chest with one hand, as if looking for something. 

“Yes of course sir, I have….well, I thought I had my holotag on me. I must have left it on the vertibird. I’m afraid I’ll just have to wait for my pilot to come back in two days. I’m Scribe Marshall, from the Capitol Wasteland. I was asked by Elder Maxson to have a look at this wonderful machine, see if I or my team could offer any assistance. Maybe you’ve heard of me? Fascinating technology, really it is, here, have a look at my notes,” Deacon delivered the entire speech at breakneck speed, pushing his glasses up on his nose with one hand before flicking through the sheets on the clipboard for a page of mathematical equations he’d seen earlier. “See, these are the checksums for Liberty Prime’s startup sequence, and I’ve been making some very interesting observations. I’m sure you’ll find this particularly compelling…” 

The Knight had gone from sharp suspicion to a glazed expression. Nobody ever expects to have a page of calculus and programming notes thrust upon them, and Deacon’s fervent delivery was making the man look around for an excuse to walk away. Deacon decided it was time for a coup de grace, and pointed out a particularly fiendish looking calculus expression with the phlegmiest snort of laughter he could manage. He caught a look of polite horror on the man’s face as he prepared to launch back into his spiel. 

“Ah, that…won’t be necessary, sir,” the Knight held a hand up in a plea, “I think I remember hearing about your visit. I’ll just let you get on with your work. Sorry to bother you.” The Knight walked away quickly without looking back lest Deacon leap upon him, possibly armed with graphs. 

“Yes sir, good night, sir! Just let me know if I can ever be of assistance!” Deacon called after the Knight. The poor bastard walked even faster and turned a corner. Looking around, only a few people had paid any attention to the exchange, and they were all busily engaged at looking at anything but Deacon. Nobody else seemed to be paying attention, probably assuming that anyone who had made it on the base had legitimate reason to be there. Now he just had to keep looking like he’d attack anyone who came near him with calculus and hope like hell that Curie and Codsworth could get the robot moving. He drifted back towards the scaffolding, muttering to himself as he made more scribbles on the clipboard. 

A short few minutes later, Deacon heard the groan of metal under stress coming from Liberty Prime. Something was happening, at last, and he could see Curie hurrying down the scaffold’s stairs with Codsworth hovering behind her. All around him, he saw heads turning towards the hulking robot and hoped that none of them would pay too much attention to his people before they could get out of there. Once his companions reached him, they started working their way slowly towards the gate opposite of the one they’d come in through, the one closest to the old C.I.T. building. Behind him, he heard a booming voice, like a Sgt. Gutsy with a megaphone. 

“Fusion Core: reinitialized. Liberty Prime, full system analysis. All systems: nominal. Weapons: hot.”

There was a crash of metal behind them as Prime broke through the scaffolding surrounding him. A flurry of raised voices came from everyone on the ground. Some of them thought the march on the Institute was beginning. One was even ordering people to salute. Others were smart enough to realize that something was wrong, but who was going to stop a gigantic robot? Even worse, who’d have to tell the Elder? A very disciplined sort of panic broke out, with people scurrying everywhere. Deacon and company strolled through the now unattended gate as Liberty Prime continued his boot sequence. Deacon paused behind a tree and stripped out of the hated Scribe uniform to reveal the t-shirt and jeans he’d worn underneath, and all three of them checked their weapons. 

“Mission: the destruction of any and all Chinese communists.” 

“Probability of a Chinese victory: Impossible!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the idea of Deacon trying to thrust mathematics at someone to make them go away. :D All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how this chapter came out.
> 
> The phrase, "world's first hunchgroin" has been respectfully borrowed from Jonathan L. Howard's _Johannes Cabal_ series. If you've ever enjoyed the Lovecraftian touches in the Fallout series, I can happily recommend these books to you. They're great fun, and the source of one of my favorite literary heroes, a necromancer of some little infamy. Check out the author's website here: http://www.jonathanlhoward.com/


	9. Interlude 3

Lynn shook her bed restraints and thumped her head against her pillow in frustration. She’d tried every way she could think of to twist her wrists and ankles and pull herself free, but she hadn’t had any luck. She might have tried to break the restraints if she could have gotten some decent leverage, but there was just no way to do it as long as she was laying there. She shook the restraints again, listening to the way they made the frame of the bed rattle. Her wrists and ankles ached, and she wondered if the nylon cuffs had rubbed all the skin off yet. 

_Well, at least they’re not drugging me anymore._

In retrospect, punching Justin Ayo hadn’t been the _best_ idea she’d ever had. Not that he didn’t deserve it, but it wasn’t something she’d set out to do. She’d been in a halfway decent mood, freshly showered and clothed, when the Coursers escorted her back to her room. Ayo had been waiting there for her, the smug prick. He’d turned up to tell her that the synth version of Shaun was going to be destroyed in two days, and that she was going to be a guest of honor at the decommissioning. Lynn had kept her hands clenched tightly behind her back, digging her remaining fingernails into the palms of her hands rather than show any emotion on her face. Whatever he said, she’d be damned if he got any tears out of her. At that point, he’d stepped close to her and taunted her with her inability to save herself, her husband or her son. She’d merely tightened her fists further, until she could feel warm blood trickling between her fingers. Finally, perhaps sensing she was close to breaking, he smiled and reminded her that her synth son was next, to be followed by the destruction of Goodneighbor, including its Mayor. 

The next thing she knew, Ayo was on the ground in front of her, both her blood and his splattered on the front of his lab coat. His nose was crooked in a way that suggested it was badly broken, and the look of fear on his face was one she knew she would treasure for a long time. She even managed to kick him in the chest, snapping her bare heel into his sternum before X6-88 grabbed her. The other Courser helped a furious Ayo to his feet while he tried to slap the woman’s hands away. He tried to shout an order to put her in restraints that came out garbled and bubbly, which only served to infuriate him further. He held a cloth to his nose after that, watching balefully while X6 and the other Courser forced her onto the stretcher and raised the sides, pinning her while a new Courser shackled her to the bedframe. Finally, when they were satisfied she couldn’t take anymore swings at the Director, they let her go and stood back as Ayo approached her bedside, cold fury in his eyes. 

“You bitch. You uppity _bitch_ ,” he hissed in her ear. “I devoted my life to the Institute. I gave everything to this place. And what did your son do? He put you in charge. You, a Wastelander who was just too stupid to die when you were supposed to. A traitor who believed Synths deserve to be free. Well, now I’ve fixed what your fool of a son did. I’m the Director of the Institute. Your real son is dead. Your fake son will die soon. And when we destroy Goodneighbor, we’re not going to kill your boyfriend there. We’ll bring him back here, where you can watch what we do to him. He’ll curse your name before it’s over. And maybe then you’ll understand that you can’t fight the Institute.” 

Lynn had refused to dignify him with a response before he turned on his heel and stalked out, but she felt a cold weight in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t looked forward to what the Institute had planned for her, but she hadn’t been terribly afraid of it, either. If she couldn’t escape, well, at least she’d go feral eventually. Fear of her own death was something she’d come to terms with. But Ayo was going to kill Shaun, then her friends in Goodneighbor, and then… She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm. Panic wouldn’t help her now. She began to test her bonds. 

Now she wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Lynn thought it must have been late night; the lights had been dimmed for what felt like quite awhile, but there was no way to be sure. She didn’t think she could break out the restraints herself; she could only hope that Z-1 or maybe Dr. Binet would be able to set her free or give her a blade to cut herself loose or _something_. She lifted her head to examine the clasp on the cuffs again. Maybe—

Suddenly, there was a distant booming sound, and she felt the bed shake beneath her. In the distance, she heard the cry of alarms. Had something exploded? Maybe something in Robotics? She couldn’t think of anything in the Institute that should go off like that. Could Z-1 and his synths be staging a rebellion? Lynn began struggling with renewed energy, as she heard the booming sound again and the bed shook more. With a little luck, maybe the shaking would rattle something loose…there. She’d managed to get a foot pulled partway through one of the cuffs when she heard the door hiss open. Lynn looked up, wary. 

A small figure stood framed in the doorway. Shaun. Lynn was reminded of how Shaun had been afraid of her when they’d first met. And now she looked like, well, she didn’t even know. The Institute didn’t usually furnish its research subjects with mirrors. Whatever she looked like, it couldn’t be good. Lynn forced herself to relax against the bed and put on a gentle smile. She needed him to be okay with her, at least enough to convince him to free her and get him out of there before his execution. 

“Hi Shaun. Do you remember me? Please don’t be afraid; I won’t hurt you.” She used the voice she usually used for scared animals, afraid that he would turn and run at any moment. What she didn’t expect was for Shaun to scoff at her.

“Of course I remember you. You’re my Mom. Are you feeling okay?” Shaun walked up to her bedside and started fiddling with one of her wrist cuffs. Lynn could only stare in disbelief. “Dr. Binet told me to come get you. Are we leaving soon? There’s a lot of fighting out there.” He finished with one cuff and moved to her feet while she loosened the cuff on her other wrist. As soon as she was free, Lynn sprang from the bed, rubbing her wrists and examining the child synth. With a start, she realized he was carrying her backpack. Noticing her gaze, Shaun smiled and swung the back off his shoulder. 

“Z-1 and Dr. Binet saved some of your stuff for you. Here.”

She rarely brought much in the way of weapons or armor into the Institute, preferring to stow her belongings back in her home in Sanctuary before relaying. But the pack did contain her Silver Shroud outfit, armored especially for her by Kent, her Deliverer, some ammo, her Pip-Boy and her wedding ring on a chain. Lynn quickly undid the chain and slid the ring on her finger before loading her gun. She handed the Shroud coat and hat to Shaun. 

“Put these on. We’re getting out of here.” She wasn’t keen on getting shot, but she needed to get Shaun out of the Institute. Shaun obliged her, wrapping the coat around himself tightly before cinching the belt and tilting the hat low over his eyes. Under better circumstances, Lynn thought it would have been cute. She handed him her backpack and walked to the door, checking the corridor. She hadn’t heard anymore explosions, but she could still hear alarms, which had been joined by shouting and weapon fire. She huffed out a breath before gesturing at Shaun. 

“Stay close behind me, Shaun. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost got the gang back together. :D Also, this fic hit 1000 views today. Thank you guys so much!


	10. Inside

Piper reloaded her weapon, crouched beside the corner of a building while Cait covered her. After the mudfight they’d staged outside of Boston Airport, they’d run for C.I.T., trying to stay ahead of the chaos around them. Being only lightly armed and more naked than Piper would like, the pair had tried to stick to alleys and side streets, but that hadn’t been working out as well as they might have hoped. Liberty Prime was still stomping along, shouting about communism and firing indiscriminately at anyone with the misfortune to catch its attention. In the sky, vertibirds flew in circles around the robot, raining lasers on the chaos on the ground. Piper noticed that while the vertibirds weren’t trying to hit the robot, Prime had no issues with attacking the Brotherhood. Synths had started relaying in as Prime approached the old college, and Minutemen seemed to be around every corner, shooting and throwing the occasional smoke grenade for artillery. On top of all the factions fighting, it seemed like every Raider, Super Mutant, and feral ghoul in the greater Boston area had come running, drawn to the prospect of the biggest fight any of them had ever seen. 

Once she was finished reloading, Piper looked around the corner down the alleyway they were crouching next to. Under normal circumstances, she would never have ventured down a dark alleyway at night, but the bomb blasts and laser fire had lit up the night, making it easier than usual to look for trouble. She heard Cait swear above her as a Raider carrying a shotgun broke cover and came running towards them. Piper carefully sighted down the barrel of her pistol and fired, hitting the Raider in the face as he ran. She allowed herself a self-satisfied smile as the body tumbled forward, sliding to a stop alongside them. She stood and nudged Cait. 

“Don’t you know some of these people? Can’t you, I don’t know, call them off or something?” She had to raise her voice to be heard over the cacophony. She shouldn’t have bothered, judging by the look on Cait’s face.

“You want I should just tell them ‘don’t shoot, she’s with me’?” Cait nudged the ex-Raider with her toe, before bending to pull his armor off. “You think this bunch’a pissheads are gonna listen to me?”

Piper supposed Cait had a point. They quickly divided the Raider’s armor and strapped it on. Piper supposed they must have made quite a sight, covered in mud and with piecemeal armor over their underwear. It was amazing, the things they were willing to do for friendship. Together, she and Cait moved down the alley as quickly as they could, checking corners and covering each other. Piper recognized the area; they were close to C.I.T. She just hoped that everyone else would make it safely; she had only seen occasional glimpses of the rest of their friends. At the end of the alley, Cait gestured for Piper to stop. 

“Is that the place?”

Piper looked at the domed building ahead of them, lit by fire. The fighting was intense, between Liberty Prime and the synths that kept appearing out of nowhere, but there weren’t many other fighters around; nobody really wanted to get too close to Prime for fear of catching a mini-nuke. All that was left was to wait for Prime to blast a hole into the Institute and cross the relatively open ground in front of a three-story killer robot that was shooting anything that moved. Easy. Piper watched, lips pursed, as Prime finished fighting the synths and turned its lasers towards a vertibird that had flown too close. 

“Yeah, that’s it. How are we getting over there?”

Cait pointed at the vertibird that Prime had just downed. “Maybe we could hide behind that and make a run for it when the bucket of bolts does its job?”

Piper considered the vertibird. As far as cover went, she’d seen better. She was about to tell Cait as much when a dog barked behind them. Turning, she saw MacCready running along the alley towards them, Dogmeat easily keeping pace beside him. Piper smiled, glad for another friendly face. And MacCready. She wished she’d found a shirt between the Airport and here. 

“Hey! Did the robot do the thing yet? Can we go in?” Mac asked as he slowed to a stop. Piper opened her mouth to Cait beat her to it. 

“No, but I think it’s about to,” she pointed out to the campus, where Liberty Prime was looking at the ground while shouting about a subterranean Chinese compound. After a moment, the robot trained its lasers on a spot just before the doors and leaned forward as if it was trying to put all of its power into the beam. There was a hollow booming sound and a spray of dust in the air as the laser punched through the ground. Piper felt a tremor ripple through the ground. Apparently satisfied, Liberty Prime turned away, stomping away to fight a group of Super Mutants that had come running around the side of the building. Cait and Mac whooped in excitement and sprinted forward, Dogmeat at their heels. Piper ran after them, hoping nobody caught a stray bullet or laser. Ahead of her, she saw Mac disappear first, then Cait, leaping into a large hole in the ground. Dogmeat paused at the edge of the pit as she prepared herself to jump, and then she was inside, staggering from the landing. A second later, Dogmeat landed and started sniffing the ground. 

Piper could hear Cait shouting from down a corridor, under what sounded like rifle fire from Mac, but she watched Dogmeat instead. If anyone could figure find Lynn quickly in this mess, it would be Dogmeat. The dog circled the room once, nose to the ground, before looking up and barking down the hallway where she’d heard Cait’s voice. Piper grinned and knelt in front of the dog. 

“Take me to her, boy. Take me to Blue.”

Dogmeat trotted to the hallway and stopped, looking back at Piper insistently. Out of all the people Lynn had brought together, Piper thought the dog was the second or third most intelligent. She’d never really been a dog person, but had to admit that Dogmeat was a special case. She could understand why Blue made an effort to carry home teddy bears and dog armor for him to top of everything else she insisted on lugging around. She quickly checked her ammo before letting the dog lead her along the corridor. She heard shouting behind her as more people jumped down the hole in the ground, but Dogmeat didn’t seem inclined to stop, so neither did Piper.

There were hurried glimpses of dingy walls and old equipment as Dogmeat led her down what looked like any old hallway above ground. It was hard to believe this was the Institute, the scourge of the Commonwealth, until they reached a waiting elevator. The elevator looked modern, and as it descended, she saw trees and water and white walls with windows and balconies. It would have looked like some kind of sciency paradise if not for the fighting. Piper couldn’t distinguish between the combatants; she recognized synths and Coursers and saw people in lab coats running and shooting, but couldn’t find a pattern to the battle. She wondered idly if it would make an interesting story as the elevator slowed. As soon as the door slid open, Dogmeat led the way to a pathway that ringed the large central area, then down a side hallway. Piper ran after him as best she could, dodging around fights and trying not to get shot. 

Suddenly, Dogmeat raised his head and ran around a corner out of sight, barking. Swearing under her breath, Piper peeked around the corner as she heard a hoarse cry of surprise. Dogmeat was standing on his hind legs with his paws on the chest of a Ghoul woman in surgical scrubs. The dog’s tail was almost a blur and he was whining as he licked the woman’s face, while a smaller figure dressed in a Silver Shroud outfit stood to one side and giggled. For a moment, Piper was confused. Who was this woman? Dogmeat didn’t greet new people like that. Then realization dawned on her and she stepped around the corner to get a better look at Lynn.

The vault dweller looked like she’d lost weight during her confinement; her hips and chest had narrowed, losing some of the fullness she’d carried from childbearing. She still had her hair, although someone had hacked it off at chin level, leaving her face framed in a thick brown cloud. Her nose was gone, along with some of her skin, revealing a raw-looking membrane layer underneath that hinted at the shape of underlying muscle and tendons. And when Lynn turned to look at Piper, her eyes were as black as onyx. Piper found that she’d reached out towards her friend without realizing it, stunned at the changes that had occurred in only two and a half weeks. No wonder Hancock had wanted to keep her safe while the change happened, if it was that drastic. Lynn, who had finally gotten Dogmeat to stand down, watched Piper scrutinize her for a moment, unsure of what kind of reaction to expect from the reporter. 

“Hey there,” Lynn risked a greeting in her newly hoarse voice. Piper’s gaze finally stopped wandering, and she took a step closer. 

“Holy shit, Blue. Is that really you?” 

“Yeah,” Lynn smiled ruefully at her friend and gestured at herself, “That bad, huh?” Piper shook her head with misty eyes before stepping in and gathering Lynn into a fierce hug. Lynn stiffened for just a moment, unsure of herself, but then she squeezed back and laughed, “Not that it isn’t great to see you, but…how? What happened?”

Piper grinned. “We broke in to come get you out. Speaking of which…” She stepped back and looked down the corridor she’d come from. “We should get the hell out of here and find the others. Hancock’s been insufferable without you.” She reached out to grab Lynn’s arm, but Lynn just shook her head and gestured to the other person next to her. 

“I’ve got something I have to do first. But I’d appreciate it if you got him out. This is Shaun. Shaun, this is…” Lynn hesitated and shot a glance at her friend, “Your Aunt Piper.” Shaun stepped forward and raised his head so Piper could get a good luck at his face under the brim of his hat. The boy had thick brown hair and green eyes, with a rosy complexion. With the shape of his eyes, he resembled…Piper glanced a questioning look at Lynn, who nodded.

“I’ll explain later, but not here. Just get him out safe, please. And—“ Lynn stopped as the lights went out, plunging everything into darkness.


	11. Colors in the Dark

Lynn blinked in the darkness, looking around her in wonder. Hancock had been right; there were colors in the darkness. Everything around her was picked out in exquisite detail in purples and blues. Details she never would have noticed before stood out in their new colors; everything from a scratch on one of the floor panels to the scuffs in the leather of Piper’s shoulder piece jostled for her attention. She glanced down at her Deliverer and realized that she didn’t need night sights anymore; if anything the glowing green dots were more of a distraction than anything else. Maybe being a Ghoul wasn’t the greatest thing ever, but the altered vision was excellent. She watched for a moment as Piper shuffled back against the wall, taking comfort in the solidarity of a wall at her back.

“Piper, relax. It’s okay,” Lynn realized even as she said it that she really couldn’t be sure. Either someone had cut the power deliberately, or whatever her friends had done to break into the Institute had caused more damage than they’d expected. She didn’t really like either possibility, but Piper didn’t need to hear that, not when they could still hear a distant fizz of laser fire. She looked at Shaun and realized he was watching her expectantly, rather than staring blindly like Piper. Could all synths see in the dark, or was he a special case? Could he lead Piper out? Did he even know how to get out? She hesitated, trying to settle on the best course of action, when Shaun came to the rescue again. 

“Mom, could we use your Pip-Boy to relay out? I took out the tracking chip, so we could get out with it without being followed.” Shaun swung the backpack forward and reached in for the little computer. “Then you wouldn’t have to worry about us.” Lynn nodded, before remembered that Piper couldn’t see her.

“That’s a great idea, Shaun,” she rewarded him with a smile as he powered up her Pip-Boy. The sudden flare of green light made her squint, but her eyes adjusted quickly as Shaun navigated the menus. He studied the map of Boston for a moment before looking at Piper. 

“Aunt Piper, where are we supposed to meet everyone?”

Piper looked surprised as Lynn hid a smile. Aunt, indeed. She gave it a week before Piper had him selling papers in Diamond City alongside Nat. Piper’s gaze met Lynn’s as small emergency lights flickered into life at the bases of the walls, casting tall shadows along the hallway. 

“The Castle. We were all supposed to meet back at the Castle.” 

Shaun nodded and looked back at the screen to set their destination. Satisfied, he stepped over to Piper and tapped her arm. Piper switched her pistol to her off hand and knelt, the light from the Pip-Boy making her face green in the dim hallway. Shaun started to wrap his arms around the reporter when he looked down at himself, then back at Lynn.

“Hang on,” Shaun thrust the Pip-Boy into Piper’s hands and reached for the belt on his trenchcoat, “Mom, you should take these clothes. They’ll protect you. Besides, they don’t fit me that well.” He unwound the trenchcoat from his waist. Lynn started to shake her head in protest, but Shaun silenced her with a look. “Take them. You’ve got to come back and get me, right?” Abashed, Lynn took the hat and coat and quickly put them on. Shaun set the backpack on the floor, then hugged her. 

“Be careful, Mom,” he stepped away and went to Piper, “Come on, Aunt Piper. Mom’s gotta go kill people.” Piper’s eyebrows shot up, and Lynn was pretty sure hers were somewhere near her hairline as well. Sheltered or not, she had to admit that Shaun had figured her out with remarkable speed. It occurred to her to wonder how and why Shaun had even come to her at all, as frightened as he had been of her originally. Whatever the reason, it would have to wait. Piper handed the Pip-Boy back to Shaun and looked at her friend.

“Be careful, Blue.” She knelt and hugged Shaun, who spared one last glance at Lynn before tapping the screen. Lynn watched as they disappeared in a crackle of blue light that made spots dance in her vision. She blinked rapidly until the vivid blues and purples came back, then grabbed her pack and looked at Dogmeat, who looked at her quizzically. She’d never been able to shake the feeling that the dog understood everything she said, even though she was sure that was crazy. Pretty sure, anyway. She took a moment to pop the night sights off of Deliverer and jerked her head. 

“Come on, boy. Work to do.”

They set off towards one of the winding stairways. Lynn couldn’t be sure where Justin Ayo was, but she suspected the leech would have set himself up in Father’s old quarters. She’d check there first, then maybe the Synth Retention Bureau if he proved elusive. She slowed for a moment at the foot of the stairs, looking at the vibrant greens of the plants in her altered vision. Since her awakening, she hadn’t seen so much green in one place, let alone a symphony of shades like that. It would have been a beautiful sight, if a laser shot hadn’t whistled past her head. Crouching, she returned fire and slunk up the staircase, using its curve for cover. Dogmeat barked threateningly before following her. Once she was satisfied that her attacker was down, Lynn turned and took the remaining stairs to the Director’s quarters two at a time.

Dogmeat lowered his head and growled as they approached the open door to Father’s quarters. Taking the growl as a positive sign, Lynn pushed a new clip of ammo into her weapon and positioned herself next to the door. She pulled the hat low over her eyes, crouched, and quickly peered around the corner of the doorframe. She had to yank herself back just as quickly to avoid the hail of laser fire that greeted her. Ayo was inside, all right, but so were two Coursers. Her lips moved in a silent litany of curses as she considered how to take out two Coursers with a pistol and a modified trenchcoat. Her lips twisted into a smirk as the question took shape in her head:

_What would Nick do?_

She thought for a moment before reaching down to the backpack where she’d dropped it at her feet. Filling her pockets with spare rounds for her pistol was the work of a few moments, until the bag was mostly empty. Lynn hefted the pack in her hands, trying to judge the way it would fly if thrown. It wasn’t the finest idea she’d ever had, but she was aching to finish the job and get out into the open air of the surface. She poked her head back around the door to get the Coursers firing again, and then threw the backpack sideways into the room. It wasn’t perfect, but the Coursers did track the bag’s path long enough for her to unload most of a clip into one of their heads, with one bullet left for Justin Ayo’s knee. The stricken Courser stumbled as she pulled back away from the door to reload. Not for the first time, she was grateful for the Deliverer and all the time she’d spent upgrading it; it was far more powerful than it looked like it should be. Once reloaded, she looked to Dogmeat. 

“Keep them busy, boy.”

The dog barked happily and raced into the room. Lynn took a breath and aimed around the doorframe again. A few more shots finished off the first Courser, leaving the rest of the clip for the second Courser. She was aiming carefully to avoid hitting Dogmeat when she saw Ayo grabbing the dead Courser’s laser rifle. Cold rage blossomed in her chest, and she took a moment to shoot one of his hands, shortly followed by a shot to the opposite arm. She pulled back and reloaded again as he screamed and swore at her. She was vaguely aware that she was laughing. Hopefully she wasn’t going mad. 

With one more volley of shots, the second Courser was dead. Still chuckling darkly, she stood and sauntered into the room, enjoying the way Ayo’s eyes were frantically searching for her. At least he’d stopped screaming. In the darkness, his blood was an enticingly deep purple that stood out against the white of his lab coat. Dogmeat, sensing his human’s anger, backed away from Ayo and sat quietly. Lynn suddenly wished there was more light in the room besides the emergency evacuation lights. She wished Ayo could see her face. Ah, well. Nothing for it. She slowly started reloading her gun, making sure to let Ayo hear every tap, slide and clink of the spring as she slid the bullets into place. The tension stretched out like a wire as she finished and slapped the clip home. Ayo actually whimpered as she racked the slide and knelt in front of him, pushing the barrel up underneath his chin. When she spoke, her voice came out flat and rasping; she’d never let Ayo see her cry, and now she wouldn’t dignify him with shouting. Not that it was going to matter so very much to him in a moment. 

“You miserable, misbegotten asshole. The Institute could do so much good, but you just want to indulge the same petty bullying and bullshit that started the goddamned war in the first place,” she tilted the barrel of her gun backwards while the doomed bastard made a bubbling sound. “I never asked for any of this, but I wanted to make things better for everyone. And what did you do? You kidnapped me, used me for experiments, and set out to destroy the people I love.” She paused, lips pressed tightly together while she remembered the chilling panic that had come with learning about Ayo’s plans for Shaun and Hancock. “Attacking me is one thing. But my family? No.” She paused, black eyes glittering in the dim light while she watched Ayo sob. “Go to hell, fucker.” 

The Deliverer barely made any sound when she pulled the trigger. Lynn stayed still and watched as a rich purple mist settled around Ayo’s body, smelling the burned flesh from where the barrel had been pressed into his flesh. Whether or not it was wrong, she wanted to commit this scene to her memory; the redemption of protecting her second family after losing her first. Lynn was vaguely surprised that she didn’t feel much of anything in that moment. At last she stood, feeling very old, until she heard a familiar silky drawl behind her. 

“Well, look at you. I must be dreaming.” 

Lynn spun on her heel to see Hancock behind her, smiling in that gentle way he usually reserved for her. Her heart felt like bursting with relief and a sense of homecoming. In a flash, she had her arms wrapped around his neck while he rained kisses all over her upturned face. She smiled and turned her head to meet his lips with hers as his arms tightened around her waist. For a long moment, she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began, and she didn’t care in the least. Finally, the kiss ended and she nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, inhaling his smoky scent while he buried his face in her hair. Lynn would have happily stayed right where she was for a bit longer, but a polite cough reminded her of where they were. Pulling away from John, she realized that Nick was standing in the doorway. 

“I don’t want to interrupt, but we should all get out of here,” he smiled, eyes flashing. Lynn realized that the old synth’s eyes still looked gold in her new vision. “It’s good to see you in one piece, partner.” He raised a hand in salute before turning and walking towards the stairs. Lynn glanced at Hancock, who raised one shoulder in a shrug and making an ‘after you’ gesture. She raised an eyebrow and grabbed his hand in response. They walked out together to face whatever the world had in store for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, some payoff to the stuff I set up in chapter, what, 3? Sounds about right. We're coming up on the end, here. I'm curious to hear from you guys, would you want me to continue with some side stories? Leave your answers or suggestions in the comments. In fact, any comments at all give me the warm fuzzies, so go nuts, lovlies. <3


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